“This group is trying to hide away, because they are facing new campaigns [against them] by the government,” he said.

Nop Kannavuth, spokesman at the Ministry of Planning, which is responsible for implementing the SDGs, said the ministry held no reliable data on vulnerable groups subject to the SDGs.

“We are preparing it. There are some issues in some points with localizing SDGs that are yet to be concluded and because in some other countries they are still not clear either. So the government ... is discussing about this,” he said.